Showcase rail



L. O. ERIKSON SHOWCASE RAIL Jan. .24, 1939u Patented Jan. 24, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT CFI-ICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to showcases and more especially such cases Ias ar-e illuminated by tubular electric lamps and trough-shaped reflectors coextensive with the showcase rail.

Heretofore the top plate and walls of showcases of this type are united by rails to which the reflector and wiring channel are attached in various ways, as shown for example, in the patent to Leonard Erikson, No. 1,588,880, June 15, 1926.

The object of my invention is to improve and simplify the construction of showcases of the above type and reduce the number of parts required for the illuminating equipment by providing a rail which embodies in its construction a wiring channel and affords a support for the lamp socket and also for the reflector, if one is used. By means of my invention, it is possible to eliminate the reflector and provide the underside of the rail with a suit-able reflecting surface.

In the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of a showcase embodying my invention from the viewpoint designated by the arrow in Fig. 2, the channel cover plate being removed.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

In the particular drawing selected for more fully disclosing my invention, which drawing is to be considered as illustrative merely, and not restrictive, I and II are the glass top plate and front wall of a showcase which are united by the rail I2, composed of a central portion housing the lamp socket I3 and the reflector I4, if one is employed.

Said central portion terminates in a rearwardly extending horizontal flange I5 which supports the top plate. Depending from and integral with said horizontal flange is a vertical plate I6,

the lower edge of which terminates in an upturned flange I'I which affords a support for one edge of the reflector, if the latter is employed. The substantially vertical front portion I8 of the rail, herein shown as curved, terminates in a horizontal channeled portion I9 below which is a vertical flange integral therewith.

(Cl. S12-140) The channeled portion of the rail is closed by a plate 2| removably secured thereto by the screws 22, the upper end of said plate being flanged, as shown at 23, and resting upon the upper face of said channeled portion. The lower end of said plate extends below the channeled portion of the rail and is parallel with the vertical flange 20. Within the space between the said flange 20 and portion 2| of said plate, the upper edge of the front wall of the showcase is housed.

The upper face of the channeled portion of the rail affords a support for the left-hand edge of the reflector I4. The flanged portion 23 of the channel cover plate supports the socket I3, said socket having an offset 24, the lower surface of which rests on said flanged portion. Passing through the plate I6, aforesaid, is a set screw 25 which assists in securing the lamp socket in position. The conductors which pass through the wiring channel are shown at 26 and the short leads 2l connect the socket with said conductors, said leadspassing through the openings 28 in the inclined portion of the cover plate.

Having thus described an illustrative embodiment of my invention without, however, limiting the same thereto, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

A showcase rail comprising a horizontal top portion terminating in a rearwardly extending horizont-al flange, a substantially vertical front portion terminating in a horizontal channeled portion, a vertical flange integral with said channeled portion, a plate removably secured to said channeled portion, the upper portion of said plate overlying the channel in said channeled portion and the lower edge thereof extending below said channeled portion in parallelism with said vertical flange, a reflector disposed in said rail and having one edge resting on said channeled portion, and a vertically-depending plate integral with said horizontal flange, the lower edge of said plate terminating in an up-turned flange and affording a support for the other edge of said reflector.

LEONARD O. ERIKSON. 

